The mammalian Achaete-Scute homologs are conserved mammalian cognates of the Drosophila Achaete-Scute complex. They are members of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH or HLH) gene family that function as lineage-specific transcription factors essential for development. One murine member of the family, MASH2, is essential for development of a placenta, but not important for the development of the embryo proper. HASH2, the human ortholog of the MASH2 gene, was cloned in 1997 by Alders et al. (designated “ASCL2” by the authors). Alders et al. (1997) Hum. Molec. Genet. 6: 859-867.
As described in WO01/62778, expression studies revealed that the HASH2 transcript (termed CASB7439 therein) is over-expressed in colorectal tumors compared to adjacent normal colon and to other tested normal tissues. This gene is over expressed in patients with stage I to IV adenocarcinoma. Thus, the protein can be considered as a cancer antigen useful in an immunotherapeutic approach for ameliorating a subject's cancer, for instance by using recombinant CASB7439 as an antigen specific cancer immunotherapeutic (ASCI).